


What if?

by missmagic



Category: Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Gen, Lots of OC's
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-10
Updated: 2014-07-12
Packaged: 2018-01-18 22:31:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1445236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/missmagic/pseuds/missmagic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if when Rick woke up, he couldn't remember anyone's face or name, he forgot the he was married and had a son. He and Morgan go to Atlanta together, on the way their little group gets bigger 'til they bump into Shane and the gang. Lori finds out that Rick doesn't remember her, so she stays with Shane much to Carls dislike. What if Rick became the leader of a different group?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. "Days Gone Bye"

" **Days Gone Bye"**

The cars break screeched in protest as it came to a halt. Rick popped open the trunk before exiting, he scanned the area before him. "Rick, why are we stopping?" The man looked in the back seat to see the fifteen year old girl who spoke up.

"We need more gas or we aren't going to get very far." He closed the door, not waiting for her to say more before taking a red gas container and a yellow funnel. Rick walking past abandoned cars, stopping in his tracks when he say some corpses still inside, when they didn't move, he thought it safe enough to continue. As he reached the gas pumps, he groaned when he read a sign above saying ' **NO GAS** '. He started to walk back to his car when he heard shuffling noises, getting down on the ground, he saw bunny slippers followed by a hand picking up a beat up teddy bear. Jumping to his feet and nearly jogging around the back of a car, he reached out his arm towards a little girl. "Little girl?" The small body dressed in pink continued to shuffle along. "I'm a police officer,... Little girl, don't be afraid okay, little girl." His heart stopped for a second when the little girl turned, only for Rick to see her torn apart cheek. She was one of them. A growl came from her throat before she charged at him, forcing him to shoot.

* * *

The radio served as a background noise as Rick and his long-time partner and friend talked about thangs and stuff. The two dubbed as partners in crime since their time in high school. "What's the difference between men and women?" Rick asked Shane out of the blue, shoving a french fry into his mouth.

"That a joke?"

"No, I'm serious." Shane hummed to himself as he tried to thing of an answer to Ricks question. Both of them munching on the fries here and there.

"I've never met a woman who knew how to turn off a light," Shane grinned at Rick who couldn't hold back a smile. "I swear to God. It's like I come home, house all lit up, apparently it's my job to walk through that house and turn off every light this chick left on."

"That so?" Rick murmured.

"Yeah, baby," Shane hummed, "Oh, reverend Shane is preaching to you." Rick couldn't stop himself from bursting out laughing, Shane joining him.

"So, how's things going with Lori?" Rick sighed heavily through his nose, trying to think of a way to avoid this.

"She's good", he began, "She's good with turning off lights, real good, it's me that forgets to sometimes." He was silent for a bit. "We had a bad night last night."

"Hey look man, I may have failed to amuse you with my sermon, but I tried, the least you can do is speak." Rick snorted.

"That's what she always says to me, _Speak...Speak_ , You'd think that I was the most closed-mouth-son-of-bitch to ever hear her tell it."

"Do you express you thoughts, talking about how your feeling, you know, those sorts of things."

"Thing is," Rick took on a lost look. "Lately, when I try, everything I say just makes her impatient, as if she never wanted to hear after all. It's like she's pissed at me and I don't know why." Before Shane could say anything, the radio blared to life, the dispatcher calling for all backups close to the vicinity. The two immediately started cleaning up. Shane throwing the trash in the bin as Rick pulled out of the parking. As they arrived at the area, Rick popped the trunk letting Shane get the spikes out. Helping him put them down across the road before jumping back in and backing the squad car up to a safe distance from the area.

"Sounds like they chased those idiots up and down every back road we've got."

"Maybe we'll get on one of them video shows, y'know." A young officer spoke up. "Like "World's Craziest Police Chases', what do you think?"

"What I think Leon, is you need to stay focused and make sure you've got a round in the chamber and the safety off." Rick grumbled with an annoyed look.

Finally, the car approached, running over the spikes sending it skidding all over the road before tumbling off-road. "Holy shot." Shane swore. He moved along with the other cops, everyone with their guns drawn. Watching as one of the offenders crawled out of the car.

"GUN! GUN! GUN!" An officer shouted in warning when he say what was in the offenders grasp.

"Put the gun down!" Rick ordered the man, he didn't want to kill him. The offender shot first causing a firefight to break out, the man landed a hit on Rick. Rick fell with a yell that caught Shane's attention. An other man joined in and it took a while before both men were dead. Shane shouted Ricks name, running over to him. "I'm alright!"

"I saw you get tagged, that scared the hell out of me."

"Me too, the son of a bitch shot me! You believe that?"

"What, It catch you in the vest?"

"Yeah." No one noticed a third guy get out. "Shane, you do not tell Lori that happened, ever." Rick growled at him, not aware that the third offender was aiming for him. "You understand?" Rick let out a cry when he was shot, his shooter was quickly killed by Shane. Shane tried to keep him conscious but Rick couldn't stay awake.

* * *

Shane walked into the hospital room, his heart breaking seeing his best friend in such a state. "Hey bud, we're still here, we're still hanging in there." Rick continued to stare at the ceiling with almost dead eyes. Shane turned his attention to the vase of flowers in his hands. "Everyone pitched in on these, they wanted me to bring them down here, they send their love and they just, they hope you come back real soon." The room then fell in silence only to be broken by Ricks desperate gasps for air.

Rick looks around the room, ' _was someone in here just now?_ '. His head was spinning and it took a while for his eyes to focus. He tried to remember what happened. He remembered getting shot, and a friend of his trying to keep his awake but for some reason, the persons face was blurred out. In all of his memories, all the people had no face and no name can to mind when he thought about them. There was also parts of his memory which were covered in darkness, completely forgotten. ' _Why can't I remember people's names or faces?_ ' His attention was turned to the dead flowers by his side. ' _Didn't someone just put them there?_ ' He reached out his hand to twist the petals, crumpling between his finger tips. Rick turned to see that the clock had stopped, confused, he tried to stand only to lose his balance. "Nurse!" He cried out ignoring the burning pain in his throat. "Nurse! Help!" No one came. After regaining his sense of balance, he stumbled into the bathroom. Turning on the water and drinking as much as he could quickly. He then moved to the hallway, pushing one of the beds away from the door. The hallway looked as if a Tornado had passed by. When he arrived at the desk, nobody was their. He quickly grabbed the phone and put it to his ear, nothing. Who was he going to call?, another thing he couldn't remember, phone numbers. He began to search the desk for anything, when he found a pack of matches he lit one, letting it die out before he saw some double doors. When he looked through the glass panel, fear started to pump through out his body as he stared at the corpse or a woman, her stomach area missing, blood everywhere.

He made his way down another hall, eyeing the walls that where covered in bullet holes and blood before stopping in front of more double doors. On them was written ' **DON'T OPEN. DEAD OUTSIDE** '. Chains and a solid block of wood where keeping the doors closed but as he came closer, something on the other side tried to open them. Sticking their fingers through the crack, trying to reach him. Growling noises coming from the other side as well. Now more or less terrified, he made his way to the elevators but they didn't respond so he opened the door to the stairs. Now surrounded by complete darkness, he lit a match and descended the stairs. The light died two or three times before he made it to the exit. He opened the door to be bombarded by a horrendous smell. Making his way down another set of stairs he say that the place overrun by dead bodies, either covered or wrapped up in a once white sheet. As he made his way through the bodies, he counted that their was maybe more than 50 bodies.

Moving on, he made his way beside the road, coming to a park. As he grabbed the bike, the half body beside it began to move, he yelp and fell down, watching it as it tried to reaching. Growling at him, picking back up the bike, he peddled down the road and to a neighborhood that felt familiar. Stopping outside of house that he was drawn too, ' _was this where he lived?_ ' Rick dropped the bike and sat in the garden, thinking everything that had happened over. Lots of dead bodies, person torn apart still moving, loss of memories. He didn't notice someone coming up behind him, who ever it was, smacked him over the head with a shovel and all that Rick could make out was that the person was a child. "Carl?" Carl? Who's Carl? His head rolled to the side to watch as two men walked down the road but one of them took out a gun and shot the other in the head, Rick swallowed hard as the man came towards him. He heard the man and the kid who hut him talk but he couldn't make out what they were saying before falling unconscious.

* * *

Rick woke up strapped to a bed, he was going to test his bindings before he noticed the kid staring at him with a baseball bat in hand, the boy turned his head and Rick followed his gaze and found the man. The man turned around to see that he was awake. "Got that bandage changed for you." He washed his hands but didn't stop talking. "That's a very rare cut, what was it? The wound?"

"Gunshot."

"Gunshot." The man echoed. "What else? Anything."

"Gunshot ain't enough?" The man walked right up to Rick.

"Right, I ask and you answer, its common courtesy, right." He lowered himself closer to Ricks face. "Did you get bit?" Rick licked his lips.

"Bit?

"Bit, scratched, chewed, anything like that?"

"No I got shot, just shot far as I know." Rick looked right into the mans eyes, he could see the distrust in them. The man raised his hand to Ricks head but he flung his head away.

"Hey." He placed he hand on Ricks forehead before looking to the little boy. "Feels cooler that what it was, fever would have killed you by now."

"I don't think I have one."

"It be hard to miss." The man then pulled a knife out and pushed right in Ricks face. "Take a moment, look how sharp it is, you try anything and I 'll kill you and don't you think I wont." He then stood up and used the knife to cut off Ricks bindings. "Come on out when your able." He then left the room. Rick soon got up and walked out of the room to find the man in the dinning room, handing out plates to the kid. They both stopped to look at him before Rick went into the living room, the guy soon followed him. Rick went up to the windows that were covered and was about to look out. "Don't do that, they'll see the light, there more of them then usual, I should have never fired that gun today. Sound draws them and now there all in the street. Stupid for using a gun but it all happened so fast I didn't think." He then sat down at the table.

"You shot that man today." Rick said but the man just shrugged.

"Man?"

"It ain't no man." The boy spoke up.

"The hell was that out of your mouth just now?"

"It _wasn't_ a man."

"You shot that man in the street, a man!"

"It wasn't a man, it was a walker." He then pointed to an extra chair. "Sit sown, before you fall down." He then began to serve the food and Rick quickly sat down.

"Daddy, blessing." The boy sayed to the man who the looked at Rick.

"Here." All three then joined hands and then the man said a prayer. Half way through the prayer he started to glare at Rick, then they began to eat. "Here, mister, do you even know what's goin' on?"

"I woke up today, in the hospital, came here and that's all I know." Rick loward his head and went back to eating.

"But, you know about the dead people right?"

"Yeah, I saw a lot of that, out in the loading docks, piled on the trucks."

"Naw, not the ones they put down, the ones they didn't, the walkers, like the one I shot today. Because he would have ripped into you, tried to eat you get some flesh at least." Rick looked at the guy as if he was crazy. "Oh, I guess this is the first your hearing it, I know how it must sound."

"They're out there now, in the street."

"Yeah." They man nodded furiosily. "They get more active after dark sometimes, maybe it's the cool air or hell, maybe it's just me firing that gun today. But we'll be fine, as long as we stay quiet. Probably wander off by morning. But listen, one thing I do know, don't you get bit, I saw your bandage and that's what we were afraid of, bites kill ya, the fever burns ya out. But then after a while you come back." The table then went silent.

"I've seen it happen" The boy said to Rick before they all continued to eat. After dinner, Rick went into the living room and sat on a make shift bed.

"Carl?"

"What?"

"Yo-you said his name today."

"To be truthful, I don't know why I said that."

"How not?" The man looked to Rick in confusion.

"When I woke up this morning, I couldn't remember the faces and names of people who I've met in the past and there are big chunks of my memory that are just ...gone." Rick stared at the floor.

"Were you married?"

"I don't know, I don't think I was..."


	2. "Days Gone Bye" part 2

“Days Gone Bye” 

The next day, Rick slowly walked out of the house to see that the walkers had wondered off he thought that is was clear when he noticed one of them on the ground with their back against a fence. With his shovel in hand, Rick quickly smashed it on the walkers head. “Hey mister!” Rick turned around to see the kid, Duane jogging up to him. “Hey, I forgot to ask you last night but did you used to be a bank robber?” Duane’s face morphed into that of confusion when Rick laughed at his question.

“Sorry to disappoint kid but no, I was the opposite in fact, I was a cop.” Duane smiled at Rick.

“Doesn’t matter, you being a cop is still pretty cool!” This earned a chuckle from Rick. The kids father, Morgan soon walked out. 

“Duane, I need you to go in and pack up all of our food.” Duane nodded before running into the house, Morgan then walked up to Rick.

“A cop huh?” Morgan raised an eyebrow at him. Rick nodded with a smile.

“What are we doing today?”

“We’re gonna move house, we’ve spent to much time in this one.” Morgan mumbled the last part more to himself than to Rick. It was silent between the two before Rick got an idea.

“Why don’t we check the station, there must be stuff still there?” They looked into each others eyes before Morgan nodded.

“Looks like a plan.” They walked back inside to help Duane.

Rick looked at the house that the father and son found him outside of the previous day. He felt a weird pull towards the house, as if his lost memories were inside and were calling out to him. Morgan quickly snapped him out of his day dream with a slap to his shoulder before carrying a box of supplies into the house, Rick also grabbed a box and made his way in. When everything was inside, Duane started covering up the windows for at night and since there wasn’t anything for Rick to do, we went on his own little tour of the house. As he walked up the stairs, the pull became stronger. The walls seemed to scream at him to remember, everything in the house seemed to have a voice of their own and it sounded as if they were begging, over and over again. Remember. He decided to follow the pull which landed him outside of what he guessed was the master bedroom. As he stepped into the room, his head became crowded with the voice of a woman repeating his name. “Lori?” ‘Lori? Who is she?’ He noticed that he stopped in front of a drawer and he felt something inside which was familiar call out to him. Rick opened it to find a Colt Python. He held it in his hand and he remembered how he used this gun back when he was a cop. He remembered the feeling of holding it in his hand. ‘So this was my house?’ Rick looked back in the drawer and saw a gun hostler and ammo for the Colt, a small smile spread itself on his face as he fitted the belt on and loaded the Colt before placing it in the hostler. He couldn’t help but love the familiar feel it gave him. 

“Hey Rick, get down here!” Morgan called from the living room, Rick quickly made his way down to Morgan. “So, now that we’re sorted here, why don’t we head to the station?” Morgan then noticed the Colt. “Where’d you find that?”

“Upstairs.” Rick then walked outside and made his to the car, Morgan and Duane following him. “Who’s driving?”

“Why don’t you?” The three of them hopped in the car. The drive to the station was quiet, thankfully, they didn’t bump into any walkers. As they approached the station, they saw that the cost was clear. “I don’t see any walkers about.”

“Yeah, but there could be some inside.” They went in and scouted the place out, no walkers.

“It’s clear.” Rick turned to Morgan. “I have a surprise for the both of you.”

“What?”

“Working showers.

“You’re shitting me!?”

“Nope, the station has back up generators, so we have working, hot water showers.” Duane got in a position that looked as if he was praising the lord.

“Hallelujah” Morgan cried. Rick couldn’t hold back a chuckle, he guided them to the showers.

 

“I’ve missed feeling this clean.” Morgan stated.

“Yeah, well there should be clean clothes in the lockers.” Rick informed them before picking out some clothes for himself. When everyone was clothed he took them to the armoury.

“Holy sh...” Morgan gaped at the amount of guns and ammo there was. Rick nodded. They quickly grabbed nearly everything and then carried it out to the car.

“Duane, grab that canister, it should be full of gas.” Rick said to the kid, Duane nodded before taking the canister and putting it in the back seat. Before they got in the car, a walker rattled the fence beside them. Morgan saw that the walker was wearing a cops uniform and turned to Rick.

“Do you recognise him?” Rick looked at the once young man’s face, it was familiar but no name popped up.

“No.” Rick walked over to him and shot him in the head. The three of them jumped into the car and made their way back to the house. Once all the supplies that they took from the station was inside, they made sure that all ways into the house were sealed and all the windows were covered. When all of those were checked, they finally relaxed. Rick sat on the floor, leaning back against a wall before closing his eyes and letting a sigh.

“I’ll make us something to eat.” Morgan spoke up before leaving the room. Duane walked up to Rick and sat down in front of him.

“Rick?” Rick let out a hum, opening his eyes to look at Duane. “Do you remember what your family was like?” Rick was surprised by the question, that was obvious by the look on his face. He coughed before answering.

“I think I remember having a younger sibling, a brother I think. Uh.., my mum was....” Rick tried to bring up memories of his mother but they didn’t show themselves.

“It’s okay if you don’t remember, I was just curious.” Duane said to Rick, the ex-cop nodded to Duane who stood up and walked over to his dad. Within an hour the food was both made and eaten. The three males lay down in the living room and relaxed in the silence that was soon broken by a car alarm going off. Duane quickly turned off all of the lights as Morgan and Rick made their way towards the front window. Peeking outside, they saw three walkers, one of them had bumped into a Land Rover and the noise was drawing more walkers to their location. “D-dad, it’s her! She’s here” Duane stuttered before diving into the makeshift bed. Rick say Morgan pale slightly, he looked out the window to see a forth walker. A dark skinned woman with black messy hair, wearing nothing but a white night gown. Rick watched as she slowly made her way towards the front door, when she wasn’t able to get in, she moved on. He looked at Morgan, hoping for an explanation. Morgan sighed, his eyes were clouded by sadness. He made his way over to his son and comforted him. After a while, Duane fell asleep. Morgan raised his head to look into Ricks eyes.

“I guess you want to know about why he acted like that?” Rick slowly nodded. “That walker.., was my wife...” Morgan managed to say but Rick could see that Morgan was struggling with the subject. “She was bit and..”

“Morgan, you don’t have to tell me..” Rick tried to say but Morgan shook his head.

“No, It’s alright. She was bit and I was too weak to shot her..” Morgan began to shake. “I was going to, she wanted me to, she say ‘Morgan, end it, there’s no hope for me, just do it..’, but I couldn’t and even now, when she is one of them I still can’t do it.” A tear made its way down Morgan’s face. “We were going to go to Atlanta, she told me to kill her and continue with our plan but instead, my and Duane left her to turn and stayed...” 

“I’m sorry Morgan.., why Atlanta though..”

“Because, the army set up a centre there, for people who aren’t infected to life in peace and be safe, I still plan on going just not until I end her suffering...” Rick nodded to Morgan, kneeling down and patting his friends shoulder.

 

The next day, the trio sat at a table eating some cereal that they found. “So, have we got anything planned today?” It was Duane that broke the silence. Rick and Morgan shared a look before both shaking their heads.

“No, not today.” Morgan answered his question. The rest of the morning was spent in silence, no one knew what to talk about. Morgan looked out of the front window, his eyes widened for a moment, the shock was soon replaced with determination. He grabbed his Rifle before starting to go upstairs.

“Dad? Where are you going?” Rick walked up behind Morgan with a questioning look.

“Don’t worry, just stay down here and don’t come up.” Morgan then turned around and walked up the stairs, Rick felt his eyes narrow slightly as he watched Morgan but he let him be. It was when the first shot was fired that Rick acted, telling Duane to stay where he was before running up the stairs. Only to find Morgan in front of a window in one of the bedrooms aiming at something. From his position in the doorway, Rick could see a couple of walkers outside the house, he was able to recognise one of them. Morgan’s wife. Ricks face softened, he could see that she was that one that Morgan was aiming for, he could also see that Morgan wasn’t able to do it. Rick then made a decision and walked up to Morgan, taking the Rifle from his hands. “Rick, what the hell are you doing?”

“I’m gonna do it for you.” Rick sayed to him softly.

“What?”

“You can’t bring yourself to shot her, I’ll do it for you.” Morgan opened his mouth to argue. “If you let me shoot her, then you’ll be able to continue with your wife’s wish for you and Duane to reach Atlanta.” Morgan shut his mouth, seeing to logic to Ricks actions. After a moment, Morgan nodded and moved out of Ricks way, Rick gave him a pat on the shoulder before getting into position, Morgan left the room and not even a minute later, Rick head shot Morgan’s wife. Rick walked out of the room and handed Morgan back his gun.

“For Duane..” Morgan slowly admitted to himself, Rick nodded to him before walking back down stairs. After a couple of hours all of the walkers around the house had wondered off to somewhere else and so, the trio packed everything up so that they could move on to Atlanta. Rick looked over his shoulder to see Duane, noticing the tear marks down his cheeks. He remembered the boy crying softly when he told him that he shot his mum. When everything was in the car, Rick turned to Morgan. 

“So, is that us off?” Morgan nodded and they hopped into the car. As Rick started to drive off, someone shouted behind them.

“Hey!! Wait!!” Rick looked in the rear mirror to see two people running up to them, waving their arms like mad man's trying to get their attention. He and Morgan stepped out of the car and walked to the back, watching the two stopped in front of them. Rick looked at them, one was female, barely sixteen. Her light brown hair was pulled out of her face into a plait, her side fringe was hiding most of her face because she was bent over trying to catch her breath. She was wearing a turquoise hoodie and light blue skinnies. Her feet covered with blue and white converse. She straightened herself and Rick saw that she had deep brown eyes and her cheeks were covered in freckles. “T-thanks...” She panted. Rick nodded before looking at her companion. A boy maybe a year or two older than her, he stood to just above Ricks shoulders. He flicked his blonde hair away from his brown eyes. Wearing a red hoodie with a white t-shirt underneath, he also had black skinnies and black Doc Martins. Both of them had lightly tanned skin.

“Who are you?” Rick asked the two when they stopped panting.

“I’m Stella.” The girl spoke first before pointing to the boy beside her. “And this is Mitch, who are you?” She looked at the two of them.

“I’m Rick.” Stella nodded before looking at Morgan.

“I’m Morgan and that’s my son Duane.” He pointed to his son that was looking out of the window.

“Hi Duane.” She waved before looking at the older men. “Where are you all heading?”

“Atlanta” Rick became confused when he say Stella’s eyes widen and her and Mitch share a panicked look. 

“Don’t go there.” 

“Why?”

“Because it’s not safe.” Mitch spoke up, turning Rick and Morgan’s attention to him. “We meet this guy a week ago, he said that he was from Atlanta and if we value our lives then we shouldn’t go there. He said that the city is completely overrun and he barley managed to escape.” Rick and Morgan looked at each other. 

“Yo, I know that you just met us not even five minutes ago but believe us, that’s what the guy said.” Stella said. Rick stared into her eyes and she stared right back.

“What should we do Rick?” Morgan asked. Rick licked his lips before an idea came to him.

“We go to Atlanta but now that we know it’s not safe, we’ll spent a few days outside of the city and make supply runs in and we’ll be very carefully, once we have everything we need,, we’ll move on.” Rick looked at Morgan. He thought it over before nodding to Rick.

“Do you mind if we join you?” Stella asked, hope shined in both hers and Mitch’s eyes. The older men shared a look. “You know what they say, safety in numbers...” After a moment the men nodded, Stella and Mitch broke into a smile.

“Thank you so much.” Mitch smiled. Rick gestured for them to get in. Once everyone was seated, Rick drove off. 

“So kid, how old are you?” Stella looked a Duane, she sat in the seat behind Rick while Duane sat on the other side of the car with Mitch in between them.

“I’m twelve, how old are you two?”

“I’m fifteen.” Stella returned with a small smile.

“I’m seventeen.” Mitch answered after Stella, he looked at Morgan. “What kind of weapons have you got?”

“Guns.” Mitch rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, I guessed, what kind of guns.”

“I don’t know, I’m not good with the names of guns, plus I didn’t check.”

“Got a bow and any arrows by any chance?” Stella joined in.

“Sorry, but no we don’t, why you asking?”

“Well, my uncle taught me how to use a bow and arrow, I’m actually good at it, better with them than I am with a gun.”

“Have you got a good aim at least?”

“Yeah.”  
“Then you’ll be fine, how about you Mitch?” Rick asked the blond.

“I’m okay.” He said nervously. 

 

The group of five walked down the road, no longer driving because their car had run out and they had somehow forgotten the canister from the station. Bags of supplies were strapped to their backs. The sun beating down on them. “Hey Rick, do you know how much longer we have until we reach Atlanta?” Duane called out to him.

“Hm, I would say maybe two or three hours.” The three young ones groaned at this news.

“Stella, I don’t see why your groaning, you and both your dad and uncle did this all the time, you should be use to this by now.” Mitch spoke to the only female in the group.

“Doesn’t mean I enjoyed them most of the time.”

“How did you this all the time?” Morgan asked.

“Well, my dad and uncle loved to go hiking and camping, those sort of things, so they thought that it would be a good idea to bring me along, taught me some things about living in the forest and that. How to shoot a bow and arrow, you know, just all of those sort of things.” Stella answered him. Rick say a house not far ahead.

“Guys, there.” They made their way forward. When they reached the house, Rick and Morgan scouted, after a few minutes Rick came back telling them that the two people inside were dead. They searched the house but found nothing. When they finished their search they went outside to see another group of six pointing guns at them.

“Who are you?” A man at the front asked. He had black hair and blue eyes. He was wearing black jeans with a good pair of hiking boots, along with a dark brown bomber jacket. When they didn’t answer he asked again. “Who are you?!”

“I’m Rick, this is Morgan, his son Duane, Stella and Mitch, we mean no harm..” Rick answered his question, hoping that he would lower his gun. The man’s eyes narrowed before he shared a look with the rest of his group, they nodded before they stopped pointing their guns at them.

“I’m Sam, this is David and Mark the twins,” he pointed to the two men that looked to be in their mid-twenties to his left, both with dirty blond hair and blue eyes, their skin surprisingly pale. They both wore knee length shorts but on of them had a white vest top, the other with a red vest top, both also had black converse. “David’s the one in the red and Mark is the one wearing white, that’s Hayden,” he pointed to another man, this time he only look nineteen, he had light curly blond hair and green eyes. Wearing red skinnies with a black band top and Doc Martins. “Then there’s Caitie,” A young woman, mid-twenties at most with long brown hair and blue eyes. Clad in black skinnies, black converse that came up to her knees, a red top and her look was finished with a black leather jacket. “And finally, that’s Kym.” He pointed to a girl that looked no older than Stella, with boy short fire truck red hair and hazel eyes. She wore a dark blue t-shirt with white skinnies and dark brown knee high leather boots.

“Sup.” The red head greeted whilst the others stayed quiet.

“Where are you going?” Mitch asked this new group.

“To Atlanta.” Rick and his group looked at each other.

“So are we but the cities not safe.” Rick told Sam. The raven haired man narrowed his eyes at Rick.

“How is it not?” The ex-cop turned and looked to Stella and Mitch.

“Could you two please explain to him why?”

“We know that the city isn’t safe because a week ago me and Mitch meet this guy from Atlanta, he warned us not to go there because the city is overrun and he barely escaped.” 

“If it’s overrun then why are you all going there?” Mark asked.

“Because, we’re going to set up camp outside the city for a few days, each day we’re going to do a supply run into the city but now that we know it’s not safe, we’ll be really careful about it, then, when we have collected everything we need, we’ll move one.” Rick explained their plan to Sam and his group. The six seemed to be thinking about something, whispering to each other before nodding.

“Rick was it?” Sam asked, when Rick nodded, Sam continued with what he was going to say.

“You know, your plan is the best thing we’ve heard since everything went to shit.” Sam licked his lips. “Can me and my group tag along with you?” Rick and the gang were surprised but the soon got over it.

“Yeah, I don’t see why not.” Rick’s acceptance made the six grow small smiles.

“We’ve got a few cars that I’m sure you all can fit into.” Kym sayed to them. They showed them they way to the cars, there two five seater. “Looks like one of you are gonna have to sit on someone’s lap.” Duane raised his hand.

“I’ll do it, I’m the smallest.” Everyone nodded before getting into the cars. Rick, Morgan, Stella, Duane, Mitch and Hayden in one. Sam, David, Mark, Caitie and Kym in the other. Stella made conversation with Hayden over the band that was on his top. Fall out Boy. They talked about their albums and others bands that they liked, now and then Mitch would add his opinion. Thanks to the cars, they got to Atlanta in just over an hour. Stopping in clearing no far off the road that would take them to the city. To their right was the way they came, to their left was a small lake, behind them was the bottom of a rocky cliff and in front of them was a forest. Rick and Sam nodded to each other.

“We’ll set up camp here.” The group of now, eleven unpacked their stuff. Sam and his gang had three tents in their cars. 

“Okay, why don’t Morgan and Duane take a tent, the three girls take a tent, Mark, David, Hayden and Mitch take a tent and me and Rick sleep in the cars?” Everyone agreed on the sleeping arrangement and started to put up the tents. “By any chance, will we be able to make a supply run with what’s left of the day?” Sam asked Rick, Rick looked to the sky to see the position of the sun.

“No, we’ll have to wait until tomorrow.”

 

Two days had passed since the eleven set up camp in the clearing. They spent those two days on supply runs and they were very, very grateful for the warning that man gave Stella and Mitch. On the supply runs they saw that the streets were clustered with walkers. They spent their morning preparing for the supply run that Rick, Morgan, Sam, Stella, Kym and Mark were going on. When everything was ready, they were off. They found a quick and easy way to get to the city through the forest, going around the back of buildings and travelling Atlanta by rooftop. A couple of hours into their run, they went into what once was a huge clothes shop. They stopped what they were doing when they heard a door banging in another room. With their guns in hands, they silently crept towards the noise of shuffling feet. Before turning the corner, Rick motioned for Sam and Morgan to come with him so that they could surround who or whatever was in there. When he gave the signal, Mark, Stella and Kym barged into the room with their guns out, to find a group of six pointing their guns straight back at them. A man with black hair at the front smirked. “Drop your weapons, your outnumbered three to six.” A Asian boy in the back stared wide eyed, his face turned white when he say Rick and the others walk in through the back. The man’s mile faded when he felt a gun being pressed against the back of his head. 

“No, it’s six to six.” Rick said loud and clear. Everyone turned to see the three new comers. Both groups separated themselves to two sides of the room, glaring at each other. Rick looked the six over. The Asian boy and a woman were hiding in the corner, another woman looked as if she was itching to use her gun, two males looked between the two groups somewhat from the sidelines, the last man however. The one that was cocky about outnumbering Mark, Stella and Kim stared into Ricks eyes in what he guessed was disbelief, as if he was seeing a ghost. The silence was suffocating everyone slowly before the man broke the silence.

“Rick?” Rick could feel his muscles tense and his eyes narrow.  
“Who are you and how do you know me?” Rick almost growled. The man swallowed hard, as if he didn’t want to be right about Ricks name.

“Sorry bro, I was just.....” He stared into Ricks eyes. “You look familiar..” He sounded convincing but something in the back of Ricks mind told him that he wasn’t saying all of the truth.

“Who are you?” The man looked a shocked, Rick saw a tiny bit of hurt in his eyes but it quickly disappeared.

“I’m Shane, that’s Glenn, Jacqui, T-dog, Morales and Andrea.” Shane pointed to each one. The Asian, Glenn, gave them a small smile.

“Well, I’m Kym, that’s Stella-”

“Sup.” Stella gave them a mock salute.

“That’s Morgan, Mark, Sam and Rick.” Kym gave the new group their names. Shane kept staring at Rick and it was make Rick uncomfortable. They returned to silence but after a few moments, it was shattered by the sound of a gun being fired. 

“Who the fuck is that?!” Sam shouted.

“Merle!” Shane growled before charging out of the room and up a stairwell. Both groups followed him up to the top before barging onto the roof were they saw a man that just screamed redneck. “Merle!! What the fuck do you think your doing?!?!” Merle, turned around and grinned.

“I’m just having some fun.” His attention turned to Rick and his group. “Looks like we have some new friends to play with.” After a few minutes of shouting, fights broke out, Merle vs T-dog and Shane. Rick was about to join in but Mark bet him to it. Mark roundhouse kicked Merle on the back of the head, the redneck fell to the ground and everyone looked to Mark in surprise. 

“What? I use to take Taekwondo classes.” Mark shrugged. Rick quickly took out his cuffs that he got from the station and cuffed Merle to the roof. The man wasn’t too happy about that.

“You’ll stay there until you have calmed down and aren’t a threat to everyone.” Rick sayed in a commanding tone. 

“Shit.” Everyone turned to see Andrea looking over the edge.

“What is it?”

“Merle’s gun has attracted a bunch of walkers, they’re blocking the way we came in!” Andrea shouted in a rage.

“Guys-” Rick tried to say something but he was cut off.

“Naw, you just shut the fuck up!” Andrea screamed. Her group tried to calm her down. As they did this, Shane walked up to Rick.

“So, do you have any kids of your own, a son perhaps..?”

“What? Your group thinks we’re trapped and are panicking but you think this is the time to ask me if I’m a father?” Rick glared at the man. ‘Why did he ask me that? Is he hinting at me having a son?’ Shock grew on the man’s face, he didn’t expect such an outburst. “But to answer your question, no, I don’t have a son or and children.” Shane seemed even more shocked by this, as if he was expecting Rick to say that he did have a son.

“Do you have a wife, you know, maybe a Mrs Grimes?” 

“No, I’m not marri..., how do you know that my last name is Grimes..?” Shane’s eyes widened as if to say, ‘Shit, I fucked up’. Before they could say anything, Stella walked up to Rick.

“Yo Rick, why don’t we tell them?” Rick nodded.

“Everyone, I know another way out and I need people from Shane’s group to come with us so that I can show you.” All of Shane’s group raised their hands except from T-dog, Rick nodded to them before walking up to T-dog. “Here’s the key to Merle’s cuffs.” Rick handed him the key and then walked off with his group and Shane’s. After nearly ten minutes, Rick and his group stopped. “We got here by jumping rooftop to rooftop and thought windows. On our way here, not once did we touch the ground, so it’s mostly safe, minus the walkers inside the buildings that we’ll have to go though.” Rick then pointed through a window that lead to a rooftop. “This is the window we’ll be going through, got it?” Everyone nodded in understanding. “Okay then, grab everything you need and we’ll meet up here when we’re ready.” With that said everyone went and got the supplies that they had collected. Five more minutes had passed before there was the sound of shattering glass, everyone ran to the window. 

“What’s happened?!”

“The walkers got in!!” The two groups jumped through the window and stopped four or five buildings away. “Everyone alright..?” 

“Hey, where’s Merle?” They looked about but didn’t see the redneck, they turned to T-dog who hung his head in shame.

“I dropped the keys...” Rick and his group shared a look.  
“Don’t worry, nobody will miss him, well, maybe Daryl..” Morales tried to assurer them. They continued on their way. As soon as they reached the forest, Rick and the group stopped. He turned to Shane.

“Do you and your group know your way from here?” They looked around a bit before shaking their head.

“We only know are way back to our camp by the main road..” Rick and Sam shared a look, both had the same idea.

“How far away is your camp?”

“Half an hour at most away.”

“By any chance could we stay with you, just for a couple more nights and then we’ll be off.?” Sam asked them.

“And be off where?”

“We don’t know, we only came here to get supplies and then move on, we’ll decide where we’ll be going on the way.” Shane thought about it before nodding.

“Sure, now lets find the main road.”

“Wait, we still have people at our camp and a load of supplies.” Rick told them.

“I’ll stay with them until their all packed and then I’ll show them the way.” Glenn spoke up. Shane nodded before looking at Rick.

“Fine, we can agree with that, but do you know where we can find the main road?”

“Yeah, just follow the fence behind you and then when the fence stops, there should be a dirt path for you to follow, it’ll take you straight there.” Morgan instructed.

“Thanks.”

“See you there then.” Rick said before his group and Glenn walked further into the forest.


	3. Days Gone Bye part 3

"Days Gone Bye"

Shane watched Rick walked further into the trees. Still slightly shocked that Rick didn't remember him, it stung. Though, the doctors at the hospital did say that if Rick woke from his coma, there was a huge risk of him suffering from amnesia. The stinging became nearly unbearable when he discovered that the ex-cop didn't even remember Lori or Carl. Anger swelled in the pit of Shane's stomach when he remembered seeing the Colt strapped to Ricks hip, he can remember his gun but not his family. The anger disappeared slightly when he looked on the bright side. Maybe now, him and Lori can be together forever.

It took them round about an hour to reach the quarry, Shane looked up to see Dale shouting down to everyone that was in the camp. "Hey! They're back!" Andrea's sister, Amy ran from the camp and hugged her older sister. Everyone smiled at the sight of the two sisters. Shane walked up to Lori, her eyes looking at him in concern and relief. He dropped everything he was holding beside the RV before looking Lori in the eyes.

"Can we speak in private..?" Her face morphed into confusion but she nodded, they both walked to the tree line at the edge of the camp. "..." Shane was speechless, he didn't know what to tell her.

"Shane, spit it out." After a while of silence, Lori went to ask him again. "Shane, what i-"

"Ricks alive.." Shane looked at Lori, her jaw was hanging and her eyes were wide.

"W-what.."

"He's alive, I met him in Atlanta, he's with another group and looks to be well and healthy."

"Wha-... Shane where is he?! If he's alive then where is he now?!" Lori looked around frantically, trying to see if her husband had returned with Shane. When she didn't see him, she looked back at Shane. "If he's alive, then why didn't he return with you, did he really chose that other group over his best friend?!"

"No, that's the thing.." Her eyes narrowed in confusion. "He doesn't remember us." Lori's eyes widened, shock clear on her face.

"What do you mean he doesn't remember us?"

"When we bumped into him and his group, he acted as if I was a total stranger, even when I told him my name he didn't recognise me. I then started to question him... Lori he doesn't remember you or Carl.." He saw the hurt in her eyes, the tears that started to build up.

"He... H-he doesn't remember me.. His son.." Lori tried to hold in her tears. The fact that the man she loved didn't remember her was painful. Every night since the world went to hell, she would dream of him arriving but never him arriving and not remembering his family. She was about to say something else when Dale spoke up.

"Erm, guys. Why isn't Merle and Glenn with you?" Nobody showed any worries for Merle, it was that fact that Glenn was gone that made those who weren't on the supply run think the worse.

"Is he..?"

"No, he's okay." Shane reassured them, leaving the tree line and walking to the centre of the camp. "He's with the other group we met."

"Wait., another group?!"

"You met more survivors?!" Two camp members shouted. Shane nodded.

"Why is he with them and not you?" Amy asked from her sisters side.

"Because, he's gonna guide the group here, they say that they're gonna stay for a few more days and then they'll be out of our hairs." Shane looked around the group.

"Are you sure that we can trust them Shane?" Dale asked what was on everyone's mind.

"Yeah, the seem like nice people." He nodded, not telling them that his best friend was part of the group. "So, everyone prepare for when the arrive." Everyone nodded before walking off to do their thing. Shane turned to Lori. "Before you ask, yes Rick is part of this group." Lori couldn't stop herself from sucking in a breath. "Now, I want you to tell Carl about Ricks loss of memory and prepare him for when Rick gets here." Her eyes widened when she thought about how her son would react to this news. She swiftly nodded before turning to find Carl, quickly whipping of the tears that had started to fall from her eyes. Half an hour later, when the sun was beginning to set. The quarry group spotted two cars driving towards them. The cars stopped in front of the line that the group made at the entrance to the camp, most of them broke into large smiles when they saw Glenn step out of the first car. Glenn walked up to them and received hugs from a few. Everyone's attention was turned to the cars when the other group started to get out. They were surprised to see a group that was nearly the size of their own group, eleven people stepped out of the cars. Eight men and three women. They slowly made their way towards Shane and the group. Lori felt herself tighten the grip she had on Carl when she saw Rick walk along side a dark skinned man and a boy that looked like the man's son. She couldn't believe that she was looking at her husband that she thought was dead. Carl looked at his father in shock, he didn't believe Lori when she told him that his dad was alive but now looking him, he wanted to run to the man and hug him. He felt tears begin to build up when he remembered how his mother told him that he was to stay away from him because he didn't remember them. How could he not remember them? He didn't want to believe his mum but when Ricks eyes landed on his, he felt his body stiffen when he saw no recognition in the man's eyes.

Rick tore his eyes off the boy that stared back at him. He looked at Shane. "Are you all sure that it's okay for us to be here?" He saw nearly everyone nod their heads.

"Yeah, there's room for plenty."

"Thank you very much." Sam spoke on behalf of the group. The line broke up to allow the new comers to come into the camp and settle in. Both groups helped to get the tents up and the cars parked somewhere better. By the time everything was sorted, the sky had turned black. Both of the groups where gathered around a single bonfire. Everyone was silent before Carol spoke up, her daughter Sophia wrapped up in her arms.

"So.. Where are you all from..?"

"I'm from Atlanta but I moved away to stay with my auntie." Kym answered. "Don't know where everyone else is from though.."

"Why did you move?"

"...just... I moved because ... Lets just say I didn't have a good life in the city.." After everyone told each other where they came from, Rick sat down beside Stella.

"Where were you?" Mitch asked the ex-cop.

"I was taking a walk around the camp, making sure nothing unwanted had found us."

"Don't worry, we've never seen a walker in this area, we're safe." Dale spoke up.

"Fault of habit, better safe than sorry." Rick mumbled to himself more than to Dale. "About that Merle guy? Anybody that will miss him?" He looked up to see most of the group shaking their heads.

"No, the only person that would miss him would be Daryl, his brother." Rick and Sam shared a look.

"What happened to Merle?" Lori spoke up, Carl sat by her side. She felt her throat tighten when Rick looked at her.

"He was a threat to both of our groups so I cuffed him to a pipe on a rooftop." Rick looked at everyone. "I'll tell Daryl what happened tomorrow."

"No, I'll do it." Everyone turned to look at T-dog. "I was the one that dropped the key, I'll tell him." Rick was about to reply but Shane bet him too it.

"I'll do it." He looked at Rick. "No offence but you don't know what Daryl's like, you don't know how to handle him. I'll do it." The tree men started arguing with each other on who should be the one to tell Daryl what had happened to Merle. At the end of the debate Rick raised his voice.

"That's enough, I'll do and that's that." Everyone was silent at the sound of the authority in Ricks voice. Later that night, everyone turned in for the night. Rick walked up to Dale. "If it's okay, I'll go on watch and you can rest." Dale nodded with a small smile before handing him the rifle. Rick gave a small smile back before climbing onto the RV. The cool night air gently chilled its way down to Ricks lungs. The gentle wind and starry sky brought peace to Ricks mind. His peace was broken when he heard somebody climb onto the roof of the RV with him. He turned around to see that it was the kid that kept staring at him when he first arrived. Rick felt his muscles relax when he saw that the kid wasn't a threat but then questioned why the kid was here? "What you doing here? Shouldn't you be asleep?" He saw the kid tense up when he spoke to him. Wonder why? "What's your name kid?" The kid stayed tense but Rick saw a sadness settle in the young boys eyes.

"I'm Carl." Carl answered one of his questions. His name started something in his head. The voices came back, once again chanting ' remember '. "I just... Was walking about and then saw you up here and..." Carl didn't know what to say, his mum was right, he didn't remember him.

"Well Carl.." Carl felt a shiver go down his spine hearing his fathers voice say his name, the familiar feeling that it gave him. "I think you should go to your tent and sleep." The boy slowly nodded his head before climbing off the roof and walked to his tent. He stopped outside to look back at Rick, the man had his back to him. Carl couldn't help but feel the rejection growing in the pit of his stomach.

The next morning, Rick walked through the camp. Carol smiled at him as she ironed. "Hey, how was your night?"

"I was on watch, had a quiet night." He smiled back at her before walking off. Rick walked to the front of the camp to see Shane walking up to him.

"I should be the one telling Dar-"

"Well your not, I'm telling him and like I said last night, that's that." Rick cut him off. The two glared at each other before they heard the screams of Carl and Sophia.

"MUM!" The adults went into action as Rick, Shane, Morgan, Mitch, Stella, Lori, T-dog, Jimmy, Carol and Morales ran towards the children. The kids ran into their mothers arms as the others ran onwards to find a walker feasting on a deer. It turned to look at them before Rick and the others attacked it. Even when decapitated, the head still tried to get to them. That was when their attention was turned to a man who walked out of the bushes. Covered in dirt and sweat with a bunch of squirrels on a line around his shoulder. In his hands was a crossbow.

"Aww man, I've tracking that 'hing for miles!" He mounded at the deer. "Shit guys, don't forget the head." The stranger that Rick guessed was Daryl shot the walkers decapitated head before walking up to it and retrieving his bolt. Daryl then walked over to the deer's head and took out his knife. "You think I could cut around it?"

"Wouldn't be wise."

"Fuck." Daryl hardy whispered before standing up and walking towards the camp. When everyone reached the camp Daryl started shouting. "Merle! Merle! Where the fuck is Merle?" The redneck snarled at everyone. Rick sighed before walking towards him. "Who are you?"

"I'm Rick-"

"Well Rick you got something you wanna tell me."

"Yes, I chained your brother Merle to a rooftop in Atlanta." Rick held in his breath when Daryl started pacing. It wasn't long before Daryl's anger showed itself as he threw the squirrels at Rick before charging at him. Shane and a few others grabbed him and tried to calm him down. "He was a threat to everyone I had too."

"So you thought that by fucking chaining him up it would make everything better."

"No, it's my fault that he's still there." T-dog made himself known. Daryl continued to try and get out of everyone's hold so that he could get to either Rick or T-dog, after nearly an hour, he finally calmed down.

"I'm going to go get him." Daryl snarled like an animal before grabbing his crossbow. It took another while before he agreed to letting Rick, T-dog and Glenn come with him.

Night had fallen by the time the four of them had returned to the group, without Merle. Daryl avoided everyone as the two groups came to the front. Rick, T-dog and Glenn slowly walked out of the bushes, Shane stormed up to Rick. "What happened?" Rick looked Shane in the eyes before licking his lips.

"When he got there, Merle was gone."

"Walkers?"

"No, he cut off his own hand to get away, he took our truck. That's why we walked it back." Shane was quiet for a while before slowly nodding his head, he then turned and walked away. Rick noticed that the kid from last night, Carl, glared at Shane as he passed him. 'Wonder what happened between the two while we were gone?' Carl couldn't help but glare at the man. Earlier that day, when Daryl and the others left. He noticed the way Shane was acting, towards him and Lori, how his mum treated and acted around Shane. It took his a while to realise but he finally understood. Shane and Lori were trying to replace Rick. How dare they. They had already givin' up on him all because he can't remember them. Both Carl and Shane had a shouting match. Shane shouting about how Carl should respect him for teaching and treating him more like son and being a better father than Rick, Carl shouting about how no matter what, Shane would never be as good or ever replace Rick. The two ended up stomping away from each other. Lori tried to talk to Carl but he wouldn't have that, not when she was trying to have Shane take what was rightfully his fathers place. Oh no, he wouldn't stand for that.

The next day, Shane and the gang woke up to the sound of Rick and the others packing their things. "Where the fuck are y'all going?!" Shane shouted from the top of his lungs.

"I told you when we came here, after a few days, we would leave." Rick answered, not even turning to look at Shane. That seemed to anger Shane.

"Why didn't you wake us up?"

"Because, we thought it would be better to let you sleep." This time it was Hayden that spoke up in a shy voice. He couldn't help but feel intimidated by the anger he saw in Shane's eyes, he almost ran and hid behind Rick.

"That or you were robbing us!" Shane accused. Rick stopped packing before letting out a sigh, he turned to look at Shane.

"We haven't taken anything that doesn't belong to us, if you really don't believe me, then ask Daryl." He then pointed to Daryl who was sitting on a rock at the tree line fixing his bolts. "He's been awake since before us, he's seen what we've taken and what we haven't taken." After he finished talking, Shane and the others noticed that the other group had finished packing and were now jumping into their cars. "Well, we'll be out of your hairs now. See ya." Rick said goodbye before sitting in the car beside Sam. The Atlanta crew watched as the two cars drove away from their camp.


End file.
